droppers on XC bikes

twedspeed

Hi - I have used a dropper post for years now and love em - But I fancy doing a bit of more XC type riding next year - and maybe doing a few races , enduros etc - My question for the forum is Do most XC,ers use droppers ? - I ve got my eye on an EPIC for next year - and its got a 30.9 seat post diameter - so thats no problem - So that just leaves the weight issue - I notice that most "off the peg " XC style bikes dont come ready specced with droppers - Just wondered if they were frowned upon in the XC world ??
( obviously XC racers are up hill one minute and down the bumpy stuff the next - so it,d make sense ) ???

warpcow

XC racers seem to be quite conservative. I've seen quite a few endurance racers use them though, and at least one elite racer in the national series here in Sweden, but only on certain courses. He actually tested whether the added maneouverability outweighed the weight and reckoned he'd come out a couple of seconds faster per lap.

Liberty555

I've got a hardtail XC bike and a full suspension XC bike - both had droppers at one stage or another depending on the track.

I'm not a weight wieny by any stretch of the imagination but found it didn't get much use on the hardtail but gets lots of use of the full suspension. The full sus has the guides for the hose/cable and a review I read here said to put one on for the love of all things fun!

I run the dropper with a collar on it to limit travel to about 3 inchs as I find thats enough of a drop for me!

njee20

Most don't, some do. Absolutely no reason not to fit one if you want to.

Some racers at the National XC series at the weekend were wearing body armour and all sorts, it's not all Lycra and 29er hard tails!

welshkev

a mate of mine who does some seriously long rides (100km plus off road) and enters some enduros and stuff uses a reverb and his bike is still light as feck.

get one if you want it

lawman

Tbh unless you're seriously bothered about the weight of your bike I see no reason not to run a dropper as they make such a huge difference. You can still build a very, very light bike with a dropper. My 456c is under 25lbs including reverb and pedals and its hardly built with light parts!

YeehaaMcgee

welshkev wrote:

a mate of mine who does some seriously long rides (100km plus off road) and enters some enduros and stuff uses a reverb

Oh, hai

welshkev wrote:

and his bike is still light as feck.

Oh. I was going to correct you on the reverb/Joplin, but...

stubs

I would say a dropper is more useful for XC than any other form of riding. 1 your pedalling an awful lot more so running the saddle low enough for unexpected drops isnt an option, 2 your a lot more likely to be riding a natural as opposed to trail centre track so you wont be expecting whats round the corner, 3 your possibly riding a long distance so stopping at the top/bottom of every drop to raise/lower your post is rapidly going to make you late for the pub/cafe.

I dont have a dropper but currently I need the excuse to stop for a breather regulary and the old "I think my gears are out/chains jumping/tyres need some air" excuses soon become unusable but no one can complain when you stop to get your saddle just right.

rockmonkeysc

No reason not to. I dont find the need to use one for xc.

peter413

If you want to run one, run one. Personally I wouldn't build up a proper mountain bike without one, my rigid doesn't have one because it was done cheaply but I definitely miss the dropper before the suspension. Of course DH bikes etc are an exception to that.

welshkev

peter413 wrote:

If you want to run one, run one. Personally I wouldn't build up a proper mountain bike without one, my rigid doesn't have one because it was done cheaply but I definitely miss the dropper before the suspension. Of course DH bikes etc are an exception to that.

what? you'd miss the dropper before the suspension? that's idiotic imo.

I can ride all the trail by me with a quick 10 second stop to drop the saddle, I couldn't ride them without suspension (well, technically yes I could but it would be slow and harsh!)

peter413

welshkev wrote:

peter413 wrote:

If you want to run one, run one. Personally I wouldn't build up a proper mountain bike without one, my rigid doesn't have one because it was done cheaply but I definitely miss the dropper before the suspension. Of course DH bikes etc are an exception to that.

what? you'd miss the dropper before the suspension? that's idiotic imo.

I can ride all the trail by me with a quick 10 second stop to drop the saddle, I couldn't ride them without suspension (well, technically yes I could but it would be slow and harsh!)

I've been called an idiot by quite a few people so maybe you're right but a dropper adds flow to a ride, it's not just for big up and downs, it's for the little traverses that you wouldn't ever bother stopping to adjust your seat, especially useful when riding more natural terrain. I don't ride all the same trails on the rigid but the ones I do, I still miss the dropper before the suspension, I built the bike as a rigid for a reason. If I wanted to ride suspension, I'd take the bike with suspension out.

welshkev

I wasn't calling you an idiot, just in my opinion the idea of having a dropper before suspension is idiotic...does that make sense or still sound like i'm calling you an idiot?

horses for courses and all that

pilch

Got an epic 29er, sometimes ride it with a dropper, sometimes without - depends where i'm riding... take like 5 minutes to change, used it at Hadleigh and I was glad of it.

The Rookie

lawman wrote:

Tbh unless you're seriously bothered about the weight of your bike I see no reason not to run a dropper

££££ A decent used rigid post is £15!

A Dropper will always increase the weight of the bike, doesn't matter how light your bike is with a dropper it's still circa 200g more than on a rigid, that may or may not be an issue, but lets not ignore it!

cat_with_no_tail

As said above, all down to personal preference.

I run one on my rigid rockhopper (link in my sig) for no reason other than, I can. I can also take it off if I'm riding something where I know I'll not use it.

bartimaeus

I'm sold on droppers for XC riding... Where I ride there's plenty of tight singletrack where a small drop is helpful, and some must-do sections which a best taken with the seat right down. I also no longer start up a climb only to find my saddle is not quite the right height.

For me a dropper is a 'nice to have' that's turned into something more - it just makes life easier, especially when you go somewhere new and the trail gets just that bit steeper/tighter/rougher.

It's also handy to be able to drop your saddle at the top of a climb, and put your feet on the ground while you wait for your mates* / collapse over the bars and puke* (*delete as applicable).

supersonic

The Rookie wrote:

lawman wrote:

Tbh unless you're seriously bothered about the weight of your bike I see no reason not to run a dropper

££££ A decent used rigid post is £15!

A Dropper will always increase the weight of the bike, doesn't matter how light your bike is with a dropper it's still circa 200g more than on a rigid, that may or may not be an issue, but lets not ignore it!

400g more than my Exotic post.

paul.skibum

I find it hard to believe that many XC courses would need you to have a dropper - the majority of places in the UK I ride dropping your post is a luxury rather than a necessity and short decents and faffing with a seatpost while concentrating on riding as fast as you can then I cant see you'd take the weight penalty - I know I wouldnt - I use one on my hardtail simply because i dont race, dont care about the weight and want to drop a post from time to time.

YeehaaMcgee

paul.skibum wrote:

I find it hard to believe that many XC courses would need you to have a dropper

Nowhere that people ride, means they "need" a dropper. But it's a bloody great addition to mountain biking, no matter what kind of riding you class yourself as taking part in.

pilch

Its not just about the 'steep' thing, there's many places i've ridden with a dropper that weren't particulary steep, in fact I would say the majority of stuff I would use one on isn't anything drastic - getting the saddle out of the way just helps with body movement/CofG and helps me ride more fluidly in certain situations.